Mayor of South Sudan dismissed for ‘slapping woman’

The temporary mayor of Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, has been fired after a video showed him slapping someone from the public.

Emmanuel Khamis Richard has been under increasing pressure from other politicians to quit, but he has refused to do so. A video of him seemingly attacking a female street seller has been widely shared for the past week.

The governor of Central Equatoria state told everyone on Friday night that he was firing him, and then more people heard about it over the weekend.

The governor took action after all the MPs sent him a letter asking for the mayor to be removed.

MrKhamis Richard did not say if he slapped the woman or not. Before he was fired from his job, he was asked to go and see some important people in Juba to explain what he did wrong. But he didn’t go, and instead asked for two more weeks before he had to go.

No one has been chosen yet to take over. But for now, the leader of Juba city council, Martin Simon Wani, has been told to oversee the overall tasks of the municipality.